Category Archives: War Stories

After failing to complete my entry for yesterday’s WAR WEEK write up I’ve decided to change my approach. Instead of doing a single week of analysis about war games I’ve instead decided to continue it as another journal style series. This will mean less frequent updates, but ideally more variety.

Another thing I noticed is that I have a lack of variety of genres considering the subject matter. Nearly every entry I was considering was some kind of shooter and that seemed like a waste. I also should have played my picks ahead of time and allowed myself more time to consider the games.

As far as upcoming subjects, I’m looking at Brothers in Arms, Medal of Honor (2010), COD4, and Spec Ops: The Line. Of course those are all shooters, but I’m sure to throw some others in there as well.

Not real ones of course. Born generations after any “real wars” had been fought, I was never a candidate for military service. The last of great wars occurred almost seventy years ago, and many of the men who served in it are dead.

No, I have memories of another war. A faux war, a pathetic, sanitized simulacrum of conflict.

Call of Duty 2 was not the first WWII shooter I had played, that of course went to various incarnations of Medal of Honor, which I experienced in fragmented pieces of the campaign, in hour long stints over at Egyptian cybercafes at the age of twelve. I remember it more for the deathmatch than anything, the opposing sniper hills where I sent digital lead into the body of another person, likely sitting at a seat somewhere in that same cafe.

Call of Duty 2 was instead the first game that gave me an idea of war was like, despite how divorced from real combat the game is. In many ways it created the idea of what a “war game” should be like in my mind. That of course is story for another time.

I returned to it today in the hopes of remembering what exactly it was that affected me so. It didn’t take long. Even while I expected it, the integration of war photos and footage threw me off. Grainy black and white records of the frontlines, blurry photos of combat.

Like this:

“Private Brad Turner was killed in the line of duty. This brave soldier single-handedly defeated 79 enemies and never gave up fighting for 2 long years. He died for the freedom that we all cherish. Brad is survived by his wife, Lisa, and sons, Chris and Rob. Go in peace, Brad. We will remember your sacrifice, always.”